GROWING THE GIANT VICTORIAS I43 



One, Victoria regia, is a native of the more 

 tropical portion of South America, being 

 found principally in the Amazon region. 

 The other, Victoria Cruziana, (the V. Trickeri 

 of the trade) occurs in the Rio Parana and 

 its tributaries. This latter situation being 

 comparatively cool, V. Cruziana has shown 

 itself far better adapted to outdoor culture 

 than the V. regia. Besides this physiological 

 diflFerence there are a number of morpholog- 

 ical distinctions. Older plants of the two 

 species may be most readily distinguished 

 by the sepals, which in the regia are spiny 

 almost, or quite, to the tip, while the sepals 

 of Cruziana are smooth, except at the base. 

 Further differences are shown in the leaf 

 colouring. 



In the earlier stages, the upper surface of 

 the young leaves of the Cruziana appears 

 bright green and seems to be divided by a 

 network of depressed reddish-coloured veins 

 into a more or less concentric arrangement of 

 quadi angular elevations. This concentric 

 arrangement becomes an apparent radial one 



